Title: Mutant Mudds Collection
System: Nintendo Switch
Price: $14.99
Release Date: 12/14/2017

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Story

In this compilation of Mutant Mudds Deluxe, prior Seafoam Gaming GOTY Winner Mutant Mudds Super Challenge, along with a “new” game known as Mudd Blocks, (Which is a reskinned version of a fun 2012 puzzle game known as Bomb Monkey) the story for each game is exactly the same as they always have been, with Deluxe leading into Super Challenge and Super Challenge leading into a game that’s somehow absent in this release.

Presentation

When it comes to Super Challenge, everything I praised the game for last year is applicable in the Switch version, with the exception of the 3D effect, since that is missing from both Super Challenge along with Mutant Mudds Deluxe for obvious reasons. Visually, all three games look perfectly crisp on the Nintendo Switch, both in handheld and docked modes, and the addition of HD Rumble actually works really well in the game’s favor, with the Joy-Cons letting out special sound effects for numerous actions performed across the three titles.

Gameplay

Due to the aforementioned review of Mutant Mudds Super Challenge, there’s really not much new to say about Mutant Mudds Collection, outside of mentioning the little tweaks here and there made to improve the experience across both titles. The best tweak by far comes from the removal of the timer, in favor of one that counts up from the beginning of the stage, meant to encourage speedrunning for the new online leaderboards.

That’s right, online leaderboards are added, and for the two core games they’re used to time the player as they go through each of the worlds, with both times for individual levels and the entire main game. You can compare your times with friends on your friend list and people from all over the world, which can lead to some pretty stiff competition if you decide to go for the top, especially if you dare to do so for the entire main game!

In addition to the leaderboards, a new game, Mudd Blocks has been added, which also comes with a leaderboard. In this small timewaster, you take control of Max as you must destroy colored blocks with bombs in order to get the highest score, with several different modes to choose from. While these single player hi-score modes are OK at best, the most fun that you’ll have with this mode comes from facing off against a friend in local multiplayer, as the rush to send blocks to the other side of the field can quickly become intense! Unfortunately, there’s no way to do this mode with the CPU for the fun of it, so if you’re solo then you’ll be stuck chasing hi-scores, which can only be fun for so long as it’s nowhere near as addicting as classic titles like Tetris.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mutant Mudds Collection is a fantastic collection of two high quality platformers, both in one package. While the original Mutant Mudds Deluxe lacks the high quality level design that its sequel has, both games are lengthy, enjoyable experiences to 100%, and are well worth purchasing the Collection for that alone. The online leaderboards are also a fantastic addition, finally giving these games something to encourage players to come back to them after 100%ing the adventures! Unfortunately, Mudd Blocks comes off as the weakest point in the collection, mainly due to the VS mode not being compatible with the CPU, as that alone would make the mode a lot more addictive to play solo, leaving Mudd Blocks as something that shines more for local multiplayer.

I give Mutant Mudds Collection a 9 out of 10, and recommend it for both fans who checked out one or both titles on other platforms, and especially for those who never got to check out either of these great platformers!